


Bounce (up and down and around)

by mseg_21



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, M/M, Reddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-08 03:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19862488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mseg_21/pseuds/mseg_21
Summary: “Richie." Bill called behind them. "You’re not allowed to go inside that bouncy house!”“You’re not the boss of me, Denbrough.”“Fine, then. Eddie, do not let him go inside that bouncy house!”“Eds isn’t my boss either.” Richie called back.They heard Stan snort loudly and Bev say, “You’re not fooling anyone, Richie. We all know you’re whipped!”Richie spluttered, he spared a glance in Eddie's way. He was decidedly not looking at him. Good, that way he couldn't see his cheeks pinking up. “Shut the fuck up, Marsh!”Based on the prompt: Reddie in a bouncy house.





	Bounce (up and down and around)

_ Ding! _

_ Ding! _

_ Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! _

"Richie! Fucking stop it." Stan scolded, slapping Richie's hand away from the Denbrough's doorbell after he failed to stop pressing it repeatedly. Their friends chuckled and watched Richie whine and complain, cradling his hand against his chest and asking Eddie to kiss it better. 

Eddie was telling Richie that there was no way his mouth would go anywhere near his hand when the door opened, revealing a sullen Bill Denbrough on the other side. “Welcome to my own personal hell.” He said glumly. 

Ben and Mike raised their eyebrows, exchanging confused looks. Stan and Eddie rolled their eyes at their friend and Beverly and Richie bursted into laughter. 

"Aren’t you a fucking ray of sunshine?” Richie said, snickering, injured hand long forgotten. 

Bill glared at him but stepped aside so that they could all come in. “You would feel this way too if you had been left in charge of a dozen twelve year olds for the last two hours.” He said, running a hand down his tired face. “All they do is run around, screaming and fighting. It’s exhausting.”

“Shouldn’t you be used to that?” Stan said, raising an eyebrow at Bill. “After so many years of having Richie around?”

“Hey!” Richie protested loudly but Bill answered Stan’s question without paying attention to Richie.

“It’s fucking worse.” Bill said. “It’s like having twelve Richies.”

“Now  _ that  _ does sound like hell.” Eddie jumped in, his nose scrunched up. 

Richie huffed, his hands dropped to his side in frustration. “Okay, when did it become ‘trash the Trashmouth’ day?”

The others ignored Richie's complaining, except for Eddie who grinned innocently at him, grabbing onto Richie's arm and nuzzling it.  _ Just kidding _ , it was meant to say. Richie's expression immediately softened.

"Stop it with the heart eyes, you two." Bev said, rolling her eyes and making her two friends blush and jump apart. Then she turned to Bill, “Why are you in charge?”

“Yeah, where are your parents?” Mike cut in.

“Dad's working and my mom went to pick up the cake. She was supposed to come back quickly but there was a problem with it and they said they would fix it but it's been hours so I'm stuck looking after these little gremlins until she gets back.”

“Aw. That’s what I call Eds!” Richie said, throwing an arm around Eddie’s shoulders. “My adorable little gremlin.” He leaned down, trying to kiss Eddie's cheek, still slightly colored from Bev's quip earlier but Richie's lips collided against Eddie's raised hand instead and he used it to push him away. 

“I’m not your adorable little anything.” Eddie replied, rolling his eyes at him, while all of their friends rolled their eyes at them. 

Just then, they heard a kid's scream coming from the backyard and Bill took off running with a panicked expression on his face and his friends in tow. Before they made it outside, Georgie barged into the house, bumping against his brother.

Bill kneeled in front of him, grabbing Georgie by the shoulders and trying to shake the answers out of him. “Georgie, what’s happening? Is everything okay? Did the bouncy house explode? Did the clown murder someone?” 

“There’s a bouncing house?” Richie muttered under his breath, eyes sparkling in excitement. His friends shushed him, waiting for Georgie's answer.

The kid was shaking his head at Bill. “There’s no more popcorn! And we’re hungry!” 

“What?" Bill frowned. "But I made like, five bowls of popcorn.” 

“There’s no more popcorn!” Georgie repeated, stubbornly. “And we’re hungry!”

“You’ve been feeding them popcorn?” Ben asked, giving Bill a disbelieving look. 

Bill let out a long suffering sigh. "What was I supposed to give them? My mom didn’t leave any money and you know I’m useless in the kitchen.” He said. "And I panicked okay? They were screaming for cake and I had to give them something or next thing I know they would be screaming for my head. They're vicious little creatures."

His friends stared at him blankly, brows either knitted together or raised in question. 

" _ Okay _ ." Mike said, breaking the silence. "Well, I can help with that. I’m sure I can whip something up.” 

Bill let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks, Mikey.”

“I’ll help him.” Ben said and the two of them set off for the kitchen, wishing Georgie a happy birthday on their way.

“Yeah, happy birthday, little man!” Richie said, ruffling Georgie’s hair. “You’re almost as tall as Eds now.” 

Eddie glared at Richie after what was probably the fifth jab at his height in just today. He high-fived Georgie and wished him a happy birthday.

“Happy birthday, kid.” Bev said. “How does it feel to be twelve?”

Georgie shrugged but then he smirked mischievously at Bev. “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Richie?” 

At the same time Eddie, Stan, Bev and Bill bursted into laughter. Georgie grinned smugly.

Richie's jaw dropped, he stared at Georgie in disbelief. Stan noticed and smirked at his friend. “You just got burned by a twelve year old.” 

“And he shut you up too." Eddie said, clearly enjoying the situation. They all laughed again. 

“I don’t ― Wow. I can’t even mad.” Richie said, shaking his head. “I’m proud of you, buddy.” Much to Bill's annoyance, Richie was Georgie's favorite and the way he was beaming up at him, pleased with his reaction was a reminder of that certain fact. Not that they needed one, Richie never failed to brag about being someone's confirmed favorite. He would often state that he was also Eddie's favorite or Stan's but neither had explicitly confirmed it like Georgie had on multiple occasions. He high-fived the kid. “Soon enough, you’ll be just like me.”

Bill groaned. “God, please no.” He said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I couldn't handle another Richie in my life.” 

“Billiam, I’m hurt. I bring nothing but joy to your life.” Richie said, holding his chest mockingly. Bill rolled his eyes at him, but his mouth had curled up in a smile. “Now, I heard there was a bouncy house. I must check it out. Come on Eds.” He said, grabbing Eddie’s hand and dragging him towards the door. Eddie sighed but didn’t put up any resistance. 

“Richie." Bill called behind them. "You’re not allowed to go inside that bouncy house!” 

“You’re not the boss of me, Denbrough.” 

“Fine, then. Eddie, do not let him go inside that bouncy house!”

“Eds isn’t my boss either.” Richie called back.

They heard Stan snort loudly and Bev say, “You’re not fooling anyone, Richie. We all know you’re whipped!”

Richie spluttered, he spared a glance in Eddie's way. He was decidedly not looking at him. Good, that way he couldn't see his cheeks pinking up. “Shut the fuck up, Marsh!” 

Eddie elbowed him on the side, lightly just as Bill groaned and said, “No swearing in front of the children, Richard.”

“Shit.” Richie muttered, having forgotten that he was at a kid’s party for a second. Eddie snorted when he heard him swear again. At least this time, he had done it quietly. 

Outside, there was chaos. 

There was a table in the middle of the backyard but none of the kids were sitting on the chairs. Instead, some of them were knocked down on the ground while others were being used by a couple of boys to build some sort of barricade. The rest of the kids were running around, jumping on each other, laughing and screaming, just like Bill had said. 

There was also a creepy-looking clown making balloon animals and balloon swords and handing them out. Richie shuddered at the sight, he’d always hated clowns. And wasn't Georgie too old for a birthday clown anyway?

“Wow.” Eddie said, taking it all in. “That’s a lot of kids. No wonder Bill was going crazy.”

"It's like a damn zoo out here." Richie added. His eyes finally landed on the massive bouncy house, where a group of children were playing. "Check that out Eds. Come on, I'll race ya!"

Before he could sprint away though Eddie grabbed his wrist. "You heard Bill. You can't go in there."

Richie whined, stomping his feet on the ground in a hissy fit. "But Eds ― "

"There are kids in there and if you go in you'll knock them over like bowling pins." 

"So? They'll bounce right back up." 

Eddie rolled his eyes, dragging Richie in the opposite direction of the bouncing house to sit with Stan and Bev under a big old tree. 

They watched as Bill refilled the popcorn bowls, no doubt to keep the children satisfied and apaced while Mike and Ben finished cooking. 

It worked. In the five minutes it took for the bowls to be empty again.

"They're like fucking piranhas." Richie gasped.

"I told you." Bill replied, forgetting to call out Richie on swearing again. "Vicious little creatures."

They worried that with the popcorn gone, there would be a riot soon but before that could happen Ben and Mike walked out, each of them carrying a tray filled with slices of delicious looking pizza toast.

“Food is here.” Mike said, setting his tray on the table. The word 'food' and the smell of it attracted some of the kids' attention. Bill and his friends helped gather the others and soon they were all sitting down ― they had to dismantle the impressive chair barricade Georgie's friends had built ― and munching happily on Mike and Ben's snacks.

"Oh Mike!" Bill gasped, throwing his arms around Mike's shoulders. "You're a lifesaver, thank you."

Mike grinned, patting Bill's arm. "You're welcome, Bill. It's not much but I didn't have a lot to work with or much time."

"Not much?" Richie said, mid-chew. There was a slice of half-eaten pizza toast in his hand that none of the losers had seen him grab. "This is fucking delicious."

His friends groaned in unison. "Stop swearing." They said, Richie shrugged and continued eating.

Even though Mike and Ben had made enough pizza toast to feed an army, the kids  ― and the losers as well ― made their way through it quickly.

They finished eating just as Sharon Denbrough returned with the birthday cake. Bill was flooded with relief when he heard that his mother was back and he followed the stampede of children inside the house. At the mention of cake they had all rushed inside chanting 'cake, cake, cake'. 

Eddie was about to join them and his friends when Richie stopped him. 

"Don't you want cake?" Eddie asked when he saw that Richie had zero intentions to move. 

Richie waved him off. "Later."

Eddie snorted. "You saw what those kids do to food. I don't think there will be any cake left later."

"I’ll take my chances. There are no kids anymore. No clown either, thank fuck." Richie said. "Perfect opportunity to go inside the bouncy house."

"Richie ― "

“Come on, Eds! Can we go? Please?" 

“Bill said we’re not allowed inside the bouncy house.” 

"Bill's not here either." Eddie pursed his lips, trying to come up with a different argument but he could feel his resolve fading. Richie could feel it too, he grabbed Eddie's hands in his and pleaded. "Come on, Eddie. You know you want to. For me." 

Eddie sighed, unable to resist Richie's batting eyelashes and the way he was softly drawing circles in the back of his hands with his thumbs. “Fine." He said. "But if Bill catches us, you’re taking the blame.”

“Yes!” Richie whooped, letting go of Eddie’s hands and cradling his face instead, kissing him soundly on the forehead. 

Eddie’s eyes widened and he could feel himself blushing from the top of his ears, to his face and all the way down to his chest, but Richie didn't notice. He was already sitting down on the grass, taking off his Converse. 

Once he was barefoot, he started undoing Eddie’s shoelaces. He lifted Eddie’s legs to take off his shoes, making Eddie lose his balance. 

"Richie slow down."

"Nope. I have to get you inside that bouncy house before you change your mind." He said, standing up in one swift movement and starting to drag Eddie away. 

"Wait."

Richie groaned. "Fuck, see?"

Eddie chuckled, rolling his eyes. "I'm not changing my mind." He said. He stood in front of Richie, lifting his hands to help remove his glasses. "We don't want you to drop them and then step on them." Richie offered him a lopsided grin. Eddie tucked the glasses carefully inside his shoes  ― not Richie's shoes, God knows he would forget they were there and crush them while trying to put them back on ― and then grabbed his hand. "Come on, you dork. Before everyone comes back."

Richie crawled through the opening first and then helped Eddie climb inside. They stood on wobbly feet, still holding hands. Once they found their balance, they let go and started hopping and jumping around, giggling excitedly. 

“I can’t remember the last time we did this.” Eddie said, twirling every time he jumped.

“I can.” Richie told him, his curls bouncing along with him. “Bill's 13th birthday party. When I ― ”

“ ― Tried to do a backflip and broke your arm, that’s right.” Eddie finished, remembering. “No wonder Bill didn’t want you in here.”

“That and the fact that I’m pretty sure this aren’t supposed to hold eighteen year olds.” Richie said with a snort. “Hey, Eds! I bet I can do that backflip now.” He said, bending his knees for impulse.

“Don’t you dare!” Eddie said, giving him a threatening look. "I don't want to be forced to drag your ass to the ER." 

Richie rolled his eyes. “ _ Fine _ . I won’t do it.” He said, bouncing back and away from Eddie. “I know something I can definitely do now, though.” 

Eddie narrowed his eyes at Richie’s grin, suspicious of what his friend had in mind but Richie just started jumping higher and higher, until he was able to touch the top of the bouncy house with his fingertips. 

“Bet you can’t do this, Eds.” Richie said, doing it again and taunting Eddie, who rolled his eyes at him. 

"Fuck you."

"No swearing in front of the children Eds."

"There are no children here Richie." Eddie said, then he added with a smirk, "Unless you count yourself." 

"You're just mad that you can't do  _ this. _ " He teased, reaching the top of the house again.

Eddie glared at him. “Not all of us can be giants, you dick.” 

“Nah." Richie grinned. "Some have to be midgets. Like you, Eddie Spaghetti.” 

“I’m  _ not _ a midget.” Eddie protested, pushing Richie. He didn't put a lot of strength into it but it was enough to make Richie lose his balance and fall on his ass. 

Richie let out a puff of breath. “Oh, I’m gonna get you.”

He tried to get up, no doubt to push Eddie in retaliation but his friend saw it coming and he jumped just in time to make Richie fall again. He did that over and over and everytime Richie would fail to get up. 

“Eds, stop that.” Richie said, trying one more time. “Let me up.”

Eddie giggled, enjoying himself. “Nope.”

“You’re gonna regret this.” 

Richie changed tactics, instead of trying to stand he crawled to his knees before jumping forward and tackling Eddie, trapping him with his body. He grinned down at him. “Told you I was gonna get you.”

“Rich, let go of me.” 

“Nope.” Richie said. Eddie was wiggling around trying to free himself but Richie grabbed both of his hands, locking him in place.

The bouncing house went still for a moment as they both realized the position they were in. 

Their faces were merely inches apart. Their chests pressed together, both of them breathing heavily, hearts thumping. Their legs were tangled with each others’. Richie's hands holding Eddie's wrists above his head. 

Neither of them moved. They stared at each other nervously, trying to think of something to break the awkward silence that had settled over them. 

Richie cleared his throat. “I ― uh. Maybe I should ― " He let go of Eddie’s hands and tried to stand up, forgetting he was in a bouncy house. He slipped, landing on Eddie and making him groan. “Shit, I’m sorry Eds.”

Eddie chuckled, shaking his head. “God, you’re so clumsy sometimes.” He said, looking up at Richie with a soft expression.

Richie didn't answer and he didn't try to get up. Eddie just stared at him. Their faces were so close that even without glasses Richie could see his thoughtful expression. Like Eddie was trying to solve a puzzle inside his head. “Hey Rich.”

“Yeah?”

“What would happen if ― I mean, what would you do if I ― If we ― ” Eddie cut himself off. Richie licked his lips nervously and Eddie followed the movement with his eyes, going completely silent.

“Eds." Richie prompted. "What is it?”

“I just. Would you mind if I ― ” Eddie sighed, shaking his head. “You know what? Forget it. It’s nothing.”

“Come on, Eds." Richie whined. He had a pretty good idea where this was going. He  _ liked _ where this was going, but he needed to make sure. He needed Eddie to just ― "Tell me, Eds. What would happen if I what?”

Eddie closed his eyes, scrunching up his face before taking a deep breath and speaking as quietly as possible, perhaps hoping Richie wouldn’t hear him. “If you leaned down and kissed me right now.”

But Richie  _ did _ hear him. He inhaled sharply and Eddie slowly opened his eyes. Richie was staring at him with wide-eyed surprise but also excitement and anticipation.“I ― uh. It’s that something that you want?” 

Eddie nodded, almost imperceptibly. 

Richie gulped, trying to swallow the lump that had lodged itself in his throat. “Okay.” 

He started to lean down, but Eddie stopped the motion with a hand on his chest. “But only if you want to.” 

“Okay.” Richie repeated only to have Eddie stop him again. 

“So, you do want to? Kiss me, that is. Because if you don’t ― ”

“Hey, Eds.” Richie cut in, smirking.

“Yeah?” 

“Stop talking.” He said, softly. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for-fucking-ever, and you’re kind of getting in my way.”

Eddie let out a nervous laugh, removing his hand from Richie's chest. "No swearing in front of the―” _Children_. The last word was muffled by Richie finally pressing his lips against Eddie's in a chaste kiss. 

It ended quickly, with Richie pulling away after a few seconds, his eyes immediately falling open and searching Eddie's face for any sign that he might regret asking Richie to kiss him. He didn't find any. Instead, he saw Eddie lick his lips before grabbing Richie's neck and pulling him down for a second, slightly more heated, kiss that Richie returned eagerly, cradling Eddie’s face in his hands, while Eddie's tangled in Richie’s curls. 

They both forgot where they were, too caught up in each other until Richie tried to adjust their position and his hand slipped when it didn't find solid ground to support itself. It sent Richie toppling over Eddie again, this time making their teeth knock together, eliciting groans of pain from both of them.

"Fuck! Sorry Eds." 

Eddie shook his head, his hand covering his mouth. "It's okay." He said. "We were getting a bit carried away anyway."

"Yeah." Richie agreed with a chuckle. The truth was that he would've happily continued to kiss Eddie indefinitely but they  _ were  _ in a bouncy house. At a kid's party. 

Eddie seemed to be thinking the same thing. "We should get out of here before the kids come back out and we traumatize them."

Richie snorted. "If they weren't traumatized by that fucking clown, this won't do it." He said, but he still  ― carefully, this time ― removed himself from on top of Eddie and helped him up.

They were just about to slide through the bouncy house opening when the sliding door to the backyard opened.

"Richie! What the fuck are you doing inside that fucking bouncy house?" Bill yelled and both Richie and Eddie flinched before dissolving into heaps of laughter when Georgie and his friends started running around the backyard again, only this time they were all screaming 'fuck fuck fuck' while Sharon Denbrough angrily yelled at his son not to swear in front of the children.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, leave a comment or come talk to me on tumblr [jem-castairs-is-perfection](http://jem-carstairs-is-perfection.tumblr.com/)


End file.
